Thursday, June 9, 2016

Presbyterian Church(USA) Signs on to Letter Opposing the Ayotte Amendments

June 8, 2016

Mitch McConnell Harry Reid

Majority Leader Minority Leader

United States Senate United States Senate

317 Russell Building 522 Hart Building

Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20002

Cc: Sens. Ayotte, Reed, Durbin, Cornyn, Leahy, Grassley

Dear Leaders McConnell and Reid,

On behalf of a coalition of groups working toward criminal justice reform, representing a nationwide,
bipartisan-supported movement to achieve effective and just policy, we write to urge you
to oppose S. AMDT. 4082 and S. AMDT. 4083 to S. 2943, the National Defense Authorization
Act for FY 2017 (“NDAA”). These amendments that are sponsored by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (RNH),
and would widen the net of persons who could receive a mandatory minimum sentence for
possessing or distributing the substance fentanyl. The Ayotte Amendments seek to increase the
mandatory minimum sentencing requirement for the substance fentanyl, by decreasing the
threshold amount for which mandatory sentences are triggered. Our country has begun to
change course on its criminal justice policy, recognizing that mandatory minimum sentencing
requirements have done little to protect the health of American citizens or promote the safety of
our communities. Instead, mandatory minimum sentences have resulted in persons convicted of
nonviolent drug offenses receiving disproportionate prison sentences, including life sentences.
We believe the Ayotte Amendments represent a step backward toward ineffective policy that
fails to direct resources wisely, and their passage must be prevented.

Fentanyl is a synthetic, rapid-acting opiate analgesic, commonly added to heroin to increase its
potency. Because fentanyl is hundreds of times more powerful than heroin,(1) individuals high on
the international supply chain of heroin trafficking are incentivized to strengthen a diluted
product. (2) This process, whereby fentanyl is added to heroin, most often occurs before the product reaches the United States. (3) When this occurs, street-level sellers (and consequently buyers) are
often unaware of the makeup of their product and its potency.(4)

The Ayotte Amendments, in their attempt to extend punishments to low-level users and sellers,
would subject individuals who suffer from opioid use disorders to lengthy sentences originally
intended for large-scale traffickers. Under these amendments, a mere 0.5-20 grams of a mixture
or substance containing fentanyl or an analogue of fentanyl would trigger mandatory minimum
sentences of 5, 10, 20 years or even life without parole. These small amounts could be intended
for personal use and possession rather than trafficking – increasing fentanyl penalties would
result in the perpetuation of a public health crisis and the reversal of the work that has been done
thus far in shifting our nation’s response to drug use toward public health instead of harsh
incarceration.

We recognize the growing challenges around heroin in many communities, with an increasing
number of overdose deaths attributed to the presence of fentanyl.5
The government must indeed
respond to this crisis; however, in order to truly save lives and promote public safety, this
response must be rooted in evidence-based practices. Mandatory minimum sentences have
existed for heroin and fentanyl since 1986,6
yet these sentencing policies have done nothing to
prevent or address the current crisis. The Ayotte Amendments would commit a grave error by
allocating further resources toward sentencing requirements that have proven to be ineffective.

Fentanyl punishments are already harsher than those for heroin – current law requires far less
fentanyl than heroin to trigger the mandatory minimum sentences designated in 21 U.S.C. §841.
The Ayotte Amendments would exacerbate an already tenuous policy – the drug quantities for
both heroin and fentanyl outlined in §841 are not themselves based in science or expert
testimony, but rather were picked at random in an election year during an era of lawmakers being
“tough-on-crime.”

Senator Ayotte has expressed the desire to “improve efforts to get this drug off the streets and
appropriately prosecute those individuals and organizations who are profiting off of it.”7
The
Ayotte Amendments would not achieve this, but would rather incarcerate low-level distributors
and individuals who struggle with addiction. In a time when nearly 1 in 100 Americans is
incarcerated8
and populations of color continue to be disproportionately affected by convictions and harsh sentences,9
we must embrace a public-health approach to combatting the harmful
effects of fentanyl and other opioids. For these reasons, we strongly urge you to oppose the
Ayotte Amendments, S. AMDT. 4082 and S. AMDT. 4083, to the NDAA.

Sincerely,

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
AIDS Alabama
Amity Foundation
Bend the Arc Jewish Action
CAN-DO Foundation
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
Chicago Recovery Alliance
The CHOW Project
Church of the Brethren, Office of Public Witness
Church of Scientology National Affairs Office
Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE)
Civic Trust Public Lobbying Company
Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition
Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH).
#cut50
The Daniel Initiative
Disciples Center for Public Witness
Drug Policy Alliance
Drug Policy Forum of Hawai'i
Drug Truth Network
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Exodus Foundation.org
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM)
Families for Sensible Drug Policy
FedCURE
Federal Public and Community Defenders
Friends Committee on National Legislation
The Global Justice Institute
Help Not Handcuffs
Housing Works
Human Rights Watch
Humboldt Institute for Harm Reduction
Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy
International Council of Community Churches
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Life for Pot
Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership
Metropolitan Community Churches
Michigan NORML
Mommieactivist and Sons
Moms United to end the War on Drugs
NAACP
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc
National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery
The National Assn of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors
(NACBHDD)
National Council of Jewish Women
The National Assn for Rural Mental Health (NARMH)
National Association of Social Workers
The National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health
NACDL
The National Council of Churches
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
National Organization for Women
National Register of Health Service Psychologists
National Urban League
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Orleans Harm Reduction Network
A New PATH
One Million Americans, Ltd
Peace Alliance
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Public Justice Center
The Real Cost of Prisons Project
Reentry Central
Remove Intoxicated Drivers
Sensible Colorado
The Sentencing Project
St. Ann's Corner of Harm Reduction
StoptheDrugWar.org
Student Peace Alliance
Treatment Communities of America
T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.
Trystereo
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries.
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
Union for Reform Judaism
Virginians Against Drug Violence
VOCAL New York
Women Who Never Give Up
334 East 92nd Street Tenant Association

About Me

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its task is to advocate, and help the church to advocate, the social witness perspectives and policies of the Presbyterian General Assembly. The church has a long history of applying these biblically and theologically-based insights to issues that affect the public — maintaining a public policy ministry in the nation's capital since 1946.
Reformed theology teaches that because a sovereign God is at work in all the world, the church and Christian citizens should be concerned about public policy. In addition, Presbyterian forefather John Calvin wrote, "Civil magistry is a calling not only holy and legitimate, but by far the most sacred and honorable in human life."